Kew : On the Pairing of Limax maximus. 



245 



organs of generation are then protruded from their orifice near the 

 mouth, and, hanging- down a short distance, touch each other; they then 

 commence the same spiral motion, twisting round each other, resembling a 

 two-stranded cord. When fully protruded they cannot be distinguished ; 

 the lower part then assumes various forms : the first I saw resembled an 

 inverted flat-topped agaric, the portion forming the stem being about two 

 inches in length and two or three lines in diameter, the top being about an 

 inch and a half across : others have formed an ovoid mass suspended in 

 like manner, covered with foliated processes similar to those of a foliated 

 Murex or a leaf of curled parsley; at this time they form a very beautiful 

 ol^ject, especially when they hang from some projecting surface, which 

 enables them to swing- clear without touching the wall ; the dark shell-like 

 substance hanging pendant from a white shining cord, one line in thickness, 

 below which hangs another white semi-transparent body, the delicately 

 striated surface of which shows all over it a continuous vermicular motion ; 

 the foliated expansions, continually changing their form or being with- 

 drawn in places and shooting out afresh in others, giving out occasionally 

 an iridescence, as the light falls , upon the ever-varying surface. After 

 remaining a considerable time in this position (the vermicular motion 

 continuing without intermission) the generative organs separate, and when 

 nearly withdrawn, the bodies untwist themselves and separate ; they then 

 crawl up the suspending line and depart.* 



Baudelot twice witnessed the pairing- of these animals in his 

 cellar. He remarks that the particulars of their union are ex- 

 tremely curious, and states, as the result of his own observations, 

 that the animals approach one another towards nightfall ; that 

 one follows the other, the snout of the second being- applied to 

 the tail of the leader ; and that the two subsequently stop and 

 creep round one another in a circle. They occupy, with these 

 manoeuvres, 2-3 hours; and at last, when the wall on which they 

 are creeping- is well daubed with mucus, one detaches itself and 

 becomes suspended by the tail ; its companion slides round it, 

 and the two twist tog-ether in the form of a screw. The slimy 

 cord, which now sustains the animals, elongates rapidly and 

 attains a length of i]4-2 decimetres ; its thickness near the 

 middle is about 3 mm., but towards the upper end it spreads out 

 in the form of a cone, the base of which, about 5 centimetres 

 wide, forms the attachment to the wall. On one side of the 

 neck of each animal, a white tubercle now appears, and rapidly 

 assumes the form of a cylindrical appendage 3-4 centimetres 

 long-. Both appendag-es swing considerably, and on touching", 

 they twist together instantly, their distal parts assuming the 

 form of undulated blades with sinuated margins. The copula- 

 tion lasts 15-20 minutes, after which the appendag-es separate, 

 and are withdrawn, rather rapidly, into the bod}-. In one case 



* J. Bladon, The Loves of the Slugs, Zoologist, XVI. I 1858), pp. 6272-3. 

 igci August 2. 



